Youtube shows the model depicted being successfully used to start a large prime mover in the USA.

The shame of it is that the cheapest one I can see here in Australia is $589- with free postage, whereas this one (from the USA) is around $100- cheaper landed here, despite having to pay for postage.

I could probably get away with the 2000 amp version anyway I guess. My old jumper leads are about 40 years old and probably not up to the task of starting a 6.6 litre V8 diesel anyway......hence my desire to consider what I'd do in a time of need when the BT wasn't with me.

Thoughts?

Bill_________________2013 Bushtracker being tugged along by 2012 Chev Silverado. Bee-ute-tee-full!!!

I am a bit OCD myself on equipment in my tow vehicle. I also have a small lithium jump starter in my motorcycle kit, and gave my Staff one each for Christmas last year for their Wives tow vehicles... They have reportedly started a few vehicles with lights left on, sort of a booster effect..

I do not carry one for my 6.7 Cummins Dodge Ram, because I have 200 AH lithium battery in the back, and a flat 200 watt solar panel on the roof of the canopy.. That is pretty extreme, but it is the first lithium pack we ever tested and still going strong running a 100 litre fridge-freezer. I can always jump start or boost off of that system if needed..

Those small lithium jump starter packs are cheap at around $100, so while you and I are a bit OCD about extra gear on our trucks, this is probably a valid idea to have along. My bed slide out is full of great ideas, Sidchrome tool kits, spares, filters, sides full of all sorts of lithium battery pack power tools, air compressor kit, and dozens of other bits typical of us OCD "Rig Junkies"... So no, not such a bad idea. If I sell my 3.0i I am thinking of two 2.0i Hondas, and one can ride in the rig, everything else is in there, why not?

You could also do the old trick like we had on Landcruisers years ago, and isolate the two starting batteries with an old $25 Ford Starter relay. Then even if your second battery was flattened by headlights left on or a fridge in the back, the second battery kicking in would be enough to start the truck in a pinch...

To be fair, I think the inexpensive Lithium jumper packs is a good backup idea. I too have seen them offered under $100, and you can use them to charge a phone or whatever else too... 👍 Why not!!!

Wouldn't bother adding another battery to the list of batteries already in your household/caravan.

You could look at an alternative to Lithium jump starters that don't have batteries in them.
These are Capacitor jump starters. Have had one for 5 years. It sits in the back of the truck, weighs about 2.5kgs, and will recharge in less than 2 minutes off a "dead" battery.
Delivers 300 amps current (nearly all starter motors are current limited to 250 amps max) and the beauty of it is, once charged it will retain the charge for at least 4 years. The claim is for charge retention of 10 years, but I haven't had it that long and have used it a few times on different trucks and cars.

The beauty of it is that you never have to maintain it. Just connect it to a dead 12V battery, it takes less than 2 minutes to charge up (most dead batteries have about 10 Amphrs of residual capacity left in them, even at 8 volts) then connect the clips and start the truck._________________Regards
Graeme & Chris
July 2012, 20 foot Bushtracker

If you have a Redarc isolator for your deepcycle battery in vechile, all that is needed is a bypass wire on the isolator run back to a press button switch mounted in dash and hey presto no need for any extra weight not even jumper leads.
I have had this system in vechile since 2004 and only had to use it twice both times in the middle of nowhere with nobody in sight and NO I don't carry jumper leads.

If you have a Redarc isolator for your deepcycle battery in vechile, all that is needed is a bypass wire on the isolator run back to a press button switch mounted in dash and hey presto no need for any extra weight not even jumper leads.
I have had this system in vechile since 2004 and only had to use it twice both times in the middle of nowhere with nobody in sight and NO I don't carry jumper leads.

Darrell_________________No worries I'm still above ground

Last edited by Darjak on Tue Feb 14, 2017 4:31 pm; edited 1 time in total

Bill,
That thing has a huge current capability compared to the "little"3 kW starter motor in your truck.
Just for interest your starter will need only about 700 Amp inrush current to get things moving then after 0.1 to 0.2 seconds it falls back to 300 amps or thereabouts cranking the motor. If the motor is at minus 40C the starter might need 400 to 450 amps to do the job. So your good for visiting Chicago with it ha-ha.

The capacitor unit I have will allow up to 1000 amps inrush to flow but falls within 30 microseconds to 300 amps.

Yours is a good unit, I have seen them in use on tractors and scrapers at Camballin NT._________________Regards
Graeme & Chris
July 2012, 20 foot Bushtracker

Further to Glen's response, even if you added some extra cabling directly from the BT's batteries to a separate Anderson Plug so you could plug-in a jump starter cable, I reckon the relatively tiny cables used on a 50amp Anderson plug wouldn't be sufficient to take the current needed to start a medium to large vehicle.

The voltage drop you'd experience over 5 to 6 meters would be really substantial and you'd need significantly thicker cable....maybe if you used the LARGE Anderson plug (175 amps) along with the proper size cable to suit the lugs.

The other thing too......I don't know much about the Lithium set-ups that are used in the BT. However, what I do know is that the types of jump starter units like I have purchased, rely on some pretty substantial capacitors to effect the jump itself. The battery is actually pretty small.

I'm not sure what effect jump starting an engine from the BT's batteries would have on their integrity...perhaps none; but it'd be worth finding out before even trying as they are not a cheap item.

Bill_________________2013 Bushtracker being tugged along by 2012 Chev Silverado. Bee-ute-tee-full!!!

I bought this earlier this year on EBay for my LC200 and the same NOCO is now $30+ cheaper plus it has the Phone pack as a bonus.
Doesnâ€™t take up much room and if you also have a car as we have, we leave it in the car until we need to go away in the LC200.
Starts Diesels up to 6 Litre.